00:00 There are two types of entrepreneurs. One that digs out the raw diamond and another
00:07 one that makes it into jewelry. And I like digging for new business models.
00:13 Dubai was an opportunity-driven decision for me. The internet penetration rates were exploding.
00:22 People were coming online. However, they weren't transacting online as we know it today.
00:28 At the age of 24, I then moved to Dubai with just a backpack, pretty much, and started an online fashion store.
00:37 That endeavor became the largest online fashion store in the Middle East at that time.
00:42 When you are in your 20s, even in your 30s, you should go all in, because that's the way how you can
00:49 upgrade from one league to another. So I resigned and tried to solve another problem.
00:55 And that's how selenicar.com was born.
00:58 I tried selling my car on classifies and it's a horrible experience. It takes many meetings, it takes weeks.
01:07 So I said, "There must be a better way." So I looked at other business models in the world and there were
01:11 a few examples which actually had solved this problem.
01:14 Building businesses does not necessarily mean that you have to be an inventor.
01:19 You just have to be the best implementer of a business which might work in other parts of the world.
01:25 So I rented out the garage. We were a small team. We went out with a promise.
01:30 We said, "Anybody who comes here will buy your car within 30 minutes at a fair price."
01:36 Selenicar.com was a surprising success story from the first month onwards.
01:42 Our first month revenue was exceeding half a million dollars.
01:46 That was the problem because we were buying and selling too many cars.
01:50 I had to cover the working capital, which basically means I have to buy first and then wait until I can sell.
01:57 I realized that my team members, while buying the cars, were already calling car dealers and said,
02:02 "Hey, how much would you buy this car for?" So I realized they were doing some kind of an auction.
02:08 So we built the largest portal in the background where car dealers are bidding on your car.
02:14 Today, it's over 25,000 companies who are bidding on your car when you are in our locations.
02:20 And now, Selenicar.com is the largest used car trader online in the GCC.
02:25 We then also moved into retail now with CarNap.
02:29 We noticed that only 1% of the cars are being sold online to consumers directly.
02:34 We believe that's going to be 50% in the next 5 to 10 years.
02:38 And that's where we will use our pole position.
02:40 And now I invest actually back into the city. I love seeing companies grow, so I want to be a small part of that as well,
02:48 as an investor, especially in seed rounds where entrepreneurs are just digging out the raw diamond.
02:54 [Music]
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